In many electrical applications, and particularly in semi-conductor systems, devices are utilized for assisting in drawing excess heat away from the heat-generating device, such as the microprocessor semi-conductor. Such thermal diffusion devices are important to electronic applications, in that many electronic components lose efficiency and performance in an elevated temperature environment. Accordingly, it is well known to utilize devices such as fans, heat sinks, and the like which are useful in removing thermal energy from in and around the respective electronic components.
Solid and semi-solid heat sinks have been recognized for their utility and cost-effectiveness in acting as thermal draws from respective electronic components. Such heat sinks are typically solid blocks of thermally conductive material such as various metals, which block of material is thermally coupled to the heat-generating device through a thermal paste or the like. In some cases, the heat sink elements incorporate a plurality of thin protrusions that are integrally formed with the block of material so as to provide a substantially increased surface area in which to expose excess thermal energy to ambient air. Heat transfer therefore occurs at the interface between the heat sink material and the heat-receiving fluid, which is most commonly air. To increase the effectiveness of the heat transfer from the heat sink to the surrounding air, electronically-driven fans are sometimes incorporated to create a continuous flow of air over the heat exchange surfaces of the respective heat sinks.
In some applications, a multi-layer heat sink structure is utilized for forming both a thermal interface between the heat-generating device, and a heat exchange surface that is typically exposed to cooling fluid, such as air. A common problem encountered in conventional heat sink devices is in effectively removing relatively high levels of thermal energy away from a relatively small area. Such is typically the case with reference to integrated circuits and, particularly, semi-conductors and microprocessors, which have become extremely compact in size while producing a relatively large amount of thermal energy. To most effectively maintain optimum performance of the respective electronic components, therefore, a relatively large amount of thermal energy must be drawn away from an area that is typically of a size on the order of 0.125 in2. Conventional heat sink devices, however, are limited in the amount of thermal energy they are able to transport away from the heat source by their respective thermal conductivities, as well as the thermal contact area between the heat sink and the heat-generating device. In many cases, heat sinks carry nowhere near their respective heat transfer capacities, due to the fact that only a small portion of the respective heat sink bodies are utilized in transferring thermal energy away from the heat-generating device. In other words, the relatively small heat-generating device, such as a semi-conductor, creates a thermal footprint in the thermally-coupled heat sink, which thermal footprint has an area substantially similar to the thermal contact area between the heat sink and the heat-generating device. In most conventional heat-sink devices, the thermal energy is transported through the material of the heat sink in all directions and at equal rates. In most cases, however, conventional heat sinks are significantly larger than electronic components from which thermal energy is transferred to effectively handle and dissipate the heat generated therefrom. As such, the highest degree of heat transfer through the heat sink is generally focused at the portion of the heat sink physically closest to the thermal footprint generated by the heat-generating device. Such a focused location of maximum heat transfer generally compromises the overall effectiveness of the heat sink, in that only the focused area of the heat sink carries and transfers its maximum capacity rate of thermal energy, while the remainder of the heat sink carries and transfers far less than its thermal transfer capacity.
In addition, recent innovations in the electronic arts have developed electronic components of ultra-high performance. Such performance, however, typically results in an increased degree of thermal output from the respective electronic device. Conventional heat sinks often times become “saturated” with thermal energy at certain focused locations, and therefore fail to adequately draw a sufficient amount of thermal energy from such high-output electronic components so as to maintain a relatively steady-state temperature operating environment for such electronic components.
Some attempts have been made to develop thermal dissipation devices that are capable of sufficiently drawing thermal energy away from respective electronic components. However, such devices commonly utilize a relatively large amount of expensive, highly thermally-conductive material such as diamond, and are not useful in a wide variety of heat-sinking applications.
It is therefore a principle object of the present invention to provide a thermal diffusion apparatus that is capable of transmitting a relatively large amount of thermal energy therethrough while embodying a configuration that is adaptable to a wide variety of thermal dissipation applications.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a thermal diffusion apparatus having means for rapidly transmitting relatively large amounts of thermal energy in at least two directions from a heat source.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a thermal diffusion apparatus which enable more efficient utilization of an entire volume of a thermal transmission body.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a relatively planar thermal diffusion apparatus incorporating an insert portion having a relatively high thermal conductivity value, which insert portion is effective in quickly transferring thermal energy both through the thermal diffusion apparatus, as well as to portions of the thermal diffusion apparatus distal to the heat source.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a thermal diffusion apparatus having enhanced thermal transfer properties without substantially increasing the cost of conventional heat sink structures.